In a plot twist nobody saw coming, Walt Disney Co. switched places with the Republic of Haiti as thousands of shareholders stormed the palace and demanded the head of Michael Eisner. By contrast, recently ousted board member Roy Disney received a sustained standing ovation. Roy, a dead-ringer for Uncle Walt, waved, much as Mickey might have, while Eisner was made to stand there and take it, in a scene rich with Disneyan justice.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the salt flats of central Africa, fleeing Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide stepped off a U.S. "chartered" jet, shook the hands of many large men in black and demanded to know where he was. "Disneyland," they said. "Get in the car."

Significantly on this day another great leader awaits the sword of justice. Perky Martha Stewart will soon know the result of her legal soufflé. If we know anything about Martha, it'll come out perfectly. Her show will continue to tank.

Three great leaders, Eisner, Aristide and Stewart, each teeter on their separate peaks but share the same long distance stare, this look that people get before they disappear completely.

Lots of people have that look these days. Saddam, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush, Janet. Michael Jackson has it, even under the clown makeup you can see the sadness in Michael's milky blue eyes. You could see if it he wore a ski mask. Unless Liza Minelli was wearing it.

They're in shock, they can't believe it, their "lives" are "over." What they really ought to be shocked about is that they even made it to the top of whatever mountain they think they're on in the first place, because none of these people are really all that special. On the other hand, the exact opposite is also true.

Disney is an icon of such magnitude it commands respect similar to that of a sovereign state even though its economy is based entirely on high profit low cost entertainment ventures built by the brightest and brokest young talents in the world, people who will be lucky to one day say they no longer owe Disney anything, like Pixar. Disney and disneylike communities spring up fully self assembling and powered by committed citizens of the future who live, work, worship, die, are buried or burned on or near Disneyland or -world depending. It's a tough business with a cute history that plays forever because it's on a loop.

The truth is that Mickey Mouse was the first second rate cartoon. Mickey's voice, which was Walt's in falsetto, was so bad it was funny, the way Matt Groening's early Simpson's were funny. Walt's greatest contribution to animation was when he stopped drawing and hired professionals. Then comes Sleeping Beauty and bang, they've been making sleepy beauties ever since. Yet the world that is Disney and will be Disney still continued to grind it out and was showered with coins from the dopiest people in the realm, who deserved, frankly, to have their money sucked out of their pockets. The company / nation / denomination that is Disney had the good fortune to have a great founder in Walt Disney. He was a living logo, grandfatherly and kind, and they followed him like Mickey Moses. Or like Ray Krist over at McDonald's. Or Al Bell and Ma Bell — they never got along. Tom Edison same thing. Ben, Jerry, Stiller, Meara, same story everywhere.